Monday, June 22, 2009

I think I wrote something like 4000 words about beer and the brewing industry last week, so I'll keep it short and let someone else do the talking today.

Gelf Magazineinterviewed Garrett Oliver, brewmaster at Brooklyn Brewery. Two of Brooklyn's beers were in my 2008 Top 10: The Local 1, a sophisticated 9% ABV Belgian Blonde with a sweet, dry finish and earthy, spicy German hops; and the Brooklyn-Schneider Hopfen-Weisse, a collaboration with Germany's Schneider brewery that birthed a signature Schneider weizenbock with the American-hops twist of Brooklyn's India Pale Ale.

Oliver has become something of a Statesman for the sophistication of the American Craft Beer movement. While he sometimes comes off as stiff and snooty, it's good to see the wine-snob stereotype play out in the beer industry and let people know that a nice hoppy weizenbock can be equally refined as a California pinot noir.

Garrett Oliver: ... The more people are exposed to good beer, the more they come to like it. It's becoming a new affordable luxury. It might cost a dollar for a bottle of Budweiser and $1.50 for a Brooklyn Lager, and it's a completely different experience. In the same way that people are willing to pay more for better coffee and better chocolate, we're starting to see that people are willing to pay a little bit more for better beer as well. We're up about 20 percent this year to date, which isn't bad for a 20-year-old company. There is a movement for quality food and beverage in this country, and we're a part of it.